Dispersion of heavy particle sets in isotropic turbulence using kinematic simulation.

We study the dispersion of heavy particle sets, triangle and tetrahedron, in an isotropic and incompressible three-dimensional turbulent flow. The turbulent velocity field is generated using kinematic simulation, which allows us to vary the inertial range and to reach large values of the Reynolds numbers. We study the time evolution of the parameters characterizing the geometry, the size and shape of the triangle and tetrahedron. The Lagrangian correlations of the sets' size, area or volume, are also studied. Different initial separations between particles, inertial ranges, Stokes numbers, and particle drift velocities are considered. We found that the Reynolds number has no effect on the shape evolution of the triangle and tetrahedron provided that the initial distance between the particles is larger than the Kolmogorov length scale.